A Smithsonian Magazine feature by Stanley Meisler on the Isenheim Altarpiece's origin as devotional art for a working hospital, commissioned by Guy Guers, preceptor of the Antonite monastery at Isenheim from 1490 to 1516, for monks who nursed victims of ergotism, known at the time as Saint Anthony's Fire.
Facts
Citation
AuthorStanley Meisler
PublisherSmithsonian Magazine
Publication Year1999
URLhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/a-masterpiece-born-of-saint-anthonys-fire-57103499/
Source Typemagazine feature
Assessment
Reliability Tier2
A staff written feature in an established general audience science and culture magazine with an editorial fact checking process, not a peer reviewed academic source, used here for the altarpiece's documented hospital commission and plague era medical context rather than for technical art historical claims. NotesCited for the altarpiece's hospital commission and Saint Anthony's Fire context.
Claims Backed By This Source (27 claims)
This source backs 27 claims across the atlas. As facts: 21 well-attested. As cited relationships: 2 holds, 1 connected. Plus 3 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
Disposition By Topic
- Sacred Art & Iconography, 11 claims: 7 well-attested, 2 holds, 1 connected, 1 general references.
- Articles, 8 claims: 6 well-attested, 2 general references.
- Sources, 8 claims: 8 well-attested.
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